[Greater-baltimore] Food for Thought... Speaking of laughing...

Mon Oct 31 13:29:53 UTC 2011

Just a thought...
On television a couple years ago I watched the fabulous magician, David Copperfield, stop his act on stage and step to the edge of that high platform. He spoke directly to a woman in the front row and asked to borrow her binoculars. She gave them to him. He then used them to stare back at the woman and made a comment that I recall was somewhat funny and pleasant that I don't recall exactly but made us all think how uncomfortable it would feel to have someone staring that hard at us.  Perhaps as a magician he is hiding his tricks, but I think not; he is such a great magician that I think he just felt her stare as being obnoxious and distracting. A distracted magician doing tricks such as Copperfield does could harm himself or his assistants. So who was the victim here? And that is my food for thought.

-----Original Message-----
From: greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of William and Bernadette Jacobs
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2011 8:59 AM
To: greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Greater-baltimore] Food for Thought... Speaking of laughing...

RE: "food for thought," I'd rather cook and bake it for everyone and watch 
them eat it!  Why would I just want them to think about it???  LOL!!!  Silly 
I know!  I just couldn't resist!!  Have a great day gang!!!

Bernie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <greater-baltimore-request at nfbnet.org>
To: <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 1:00 PM
Subject: Greater-baltimore Digest, Vol 75, Issue 19

> Send Greater-baltimore mailing list submissions to
> greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> greater-baltimore-request at nfbnet.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> greater-baltimore-owner at nfbnet.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Greater-baltimore digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Food for Thought (spclarke)
>   2. Re: Food for Thought (Chris Paulus)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:59:11 -0400 (EDT)
> From: spclarke <rainbows719 at aol.com>
> To: greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Greater-baltimore] Food for Thought
> Message-ID: <8CE63E4B8F09E0A-1C30-35233 at webmail-m040.sysops.aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> I wish people in general could be more open minded.  It should not matter 
> whether the woman with binoculars was visually impaired or not.  She had 
> an absolute right to use the binoculars for whatever purpose she was using 
> them for.  The point is that no one should be singling anyone out for any 
> reason.  My Multicultural Counseling professor said a few years ago that 
> if you laugh at a racially charged joke, you are just as bad as the person 
> telling the joke.  The person telling the joke would say they mean no harm 
> by the joke, they just think that it is funny.  If a person tells a joke 
> about a certain religion, they are not thinking about that they may be 
> offending someone nearby who is a member of that religion.  They are just 
> thinking that they are being funny.  There isn't a person on this planet 
> who should use another person for the purpose of laughs.  I think there is 
> a reason why Jay Leno only pokes fun at celebrities, politicians, and 
> anonymous people in videos.  It's not
> personal.  When you single one person out and make fun of something they 
> are doing or something about them personally, that is personal.  It 
> doesn't matter if the purpose is for comedy.  The potential is there to 
> hurt the person.  I probably have alot more experience with students at 
> school being singled out at school for the smallest things...how they wear 
> their hair, how they wear their clothes, how they talk, how they laugh, 
> how they eat their food, how they open their locker, how they walk,...the 
> list could go on and on.
>
> What would it take for you to stand up against something that was wrong? 
> I believe it is wrong to pick on someone for doing something they have a 
> right to do, sighted, visually impaired, or blind.
>
> These will be my final words about this subject.  Take Care...Care About 
> Others
>
>
> Sue-Ellen Clarke
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:18:14 -0400
> From: "Chris Paulus" <chrispaulus at gmail.com>
> To: "'NFB of Maryland Baltimore Chapter Discussion List'"
> <greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Greater-baltimore] Food for Thought
> Message-ID: <96658EFAA3AB469FB4F6AAEF8488D6DC at cpter2>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Sue-Ellen,
>
> In comedy, someone is singled out for something. Sure, you wonder what the
> intent may be when a random person picks on you/singles you out  when it
> isn't expected, especially if it is outside of a comedy venue. Moreover, 
> you
> wonder this when it is a total stranger. In this case, anyone in that
> audience knew what was coming, since they most likely watch her show. Why
> would they be in her audience otherwise? I'm sure most members in studio
> were thinking, "I wonder if she's gonna pick on me today?" It is routine,
> and it is expected of Ellen.
>
> There is a huge difference between "laughing with" and "laughing at." 
> There
> is plenty of room and always a place and time for "laughing with." 
> Laughter
> goes a long way toward healing, being happier and taking a bad day and
> turning it around. Whenever you laugh, someone is the target.
>
> As a group (I have always been totally blind), we need to be very careful
> how far we take things and how sensitive we become regarding issues like
> these. If everyone's skin became thin, we'd have to get rid of sitcoms,
> comedy tours, satire, and anything funny. Someone would be offended
> somewhere, and everyone would be afraid to say anything light-hearted 
> about
> anyone. To what end? Is this where it needs to conclude?
>
> I attended a comedy show this year; I will not give the name incase 
> someone
> wishes to send an email to this person in disgust, as I had no problem 
> with
> what occurred. As you may know, a comedian will pick on/single out anyone
> (no matter who they are) if they are doing something during the show. I
> happened to be ten minutes late. As I sat down, he said, "Why are you late
> sir? Did you try to drive here? What did you do when you realized 'Ah f**k
> it; I can't get out of this driveway'? Be ware of this guy. He's got that
> folding thing that looks like an over-sized pair of nunchucks. It may be a
> weapon. Security, confiscate!" He then went on to discuss how my eyes dart
> back and forth, and swiveled his head as if he were panning the room as he
> spoke, but very rapidly (as an exaggeration of what my eyes do). He then
> wondered if my favorite color was corduroy. He finished by telling me that 
> I
> was in Nebraska, and that people are only telling me that I'm in Maryland 
> to
> screw with me.
>
> Should I have been offended because he mocked the use of my folding cane?
> Should I have walked out because he made light of my eye activity? Should 
> I
> have been disgusted because I know what state I'm in, and he should know
> that blind people aren't that clueless and unaware just because they can't
> see? Absolutely not.
>
> If people don't have enough common sense to figure out that what may
> sometimes be portrayed really isn't the truth, then all the educating in 
> the
> world will never work on that group of people. Some of the assumptions 
> made
> about us are so asinine that anyone with half a brain would know that 
> those
> things can't possibly be accurate.
>
> I met this comedian on the way out. He shook my hand and was glad that I 
> was
> a good sport. I called him by a different and more-famous comedian's name,
> and said that I was sorry I did that, as I couldn't see who he was and
> thought he was the other guy. He laughed, shook hands again and we parted
> ways.
>
> Let us not judge the action, but rather the intent of that action.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:greater-baltimore-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of spclarke
> Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 7:59 PM
> To: greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Greater-baltimore] Food for Thought
>
>
> I wish people in general could be more open minded.  It should not matter
> whether the woman with binoculars was visually impaired or not.  She had 
> an
> absolute right to use the binoculars for whatever purpose she was using 
> them
> for.  The point is that no one should be singling anyone out for any 
> reason.
> My Multicultural Counseling professor said a few years ago that if you 
> laugh
> at a racially charged joke, you are just as bad as the person telling the
> joke.  The person telling the joke would say they mean no harm by the 
> joke,
> they just think that it is funny.  If a person tells a joke about a 
> certain
> religion, they are not thinking about that they may be offending someone
> nearby who is a member of that religion.  They are just thinking that they
> are being funny.  There isn't a person on this planet who should use 
> another
> person for the purpose of laughs.  I think there is a reason why Jay Leno
> only pokes fun at celebrities, politicians, and anonymous people in 
> videos.
> It's not personal.  When you single one person out and make fun of 
> something
> they are doing or something about them personally, that is personal.  It
> doesn't matter if the purpose is for comedy.  The potential is there to 
> hurt
> the person.  I probably have alot more experience with students at school
> being singled out at school for the smallest things...how they wear their
>hair, how they wear their clothes, how they talk, how they laugh, how they
> eat their food, how they open their locker, how they walk,...the list 
> could
> go on and on.
>
> What would it take for you to stand up against something that was wrong? 
> I
> believe it is wrong to pick on someone for doing something they have a 
> right
> to do, sighted, visually impaired, or blind.
>
> These will be my final words about this subject.  Take Care...Care About
> Others
>
>
> Sue-Ellen Clarke
> _______________________________________________
> Greater-baltimore mailing list
> Greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Greater-baltimore:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org/chrispaulus%4
> 0gmail.com
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Greater-baltimore mailing list
> Greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org
>
>
> End of Greater-baltimore Digest, Vol 75, Issue 19
> *************************************************
> 

_______________________________________________
Greater-baltimore mailing list
Greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Greater-baltimore:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/greater-baltimore_nfbnet.org/lrovig%40nfb.org